American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th Ed). Arlington, VA, American Psychiatric Association 2013. $135.
The American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), used by clinicians and researchers to diagnose and classify mental disorders, is the product of more than 10 years of effort by hundreds of international experts in all aspects of mental health. Expert reviews, field trials, and a revised methodology facilitate an objective assessment of symptom presentations and progression in a variety of clinical settings (inpatient, outpatient, partial hospital, consultation-liaison, clinical, private practice, and primary care). This edition’s effort and manual created a common language for clinicians involved in the diagnosis of mental disorders, allowing for assessments to other standards and organizations, such as the World Health Organization, the NIMH, etc. The DSM-5 is the most comprehensive, current, and critical resource for clinical practice available to today’s mental health clinicians and researchers. The manual is valuable to other physicians and health professionals, including psychologists, counselors, nurses, and occupational and rehabilitation therapists; social workers and forensic and legal specialists; and also those seeking to become informed regarding treatment and management decisions. The manual covers topics such as diagnostic criteria and features (characteristics); prevalence; development and course of the condition; risk factors; cultural and gender issues; diagnostic markers; and relationships to other disorders. The manual does not discuss treatment. The manual provides multiple glossaries of common terms, diagnostic codes, assessment measures, and provides comparisons to other assessment tools, such as those provided by the WHO.
Summing Up
Essential for clinicians, public health professionals, research investigators; this manual belongs in every community library due to